Poison Brings Out the Best in Me
by HerMadnessMac
Summary: When Sakura is poisoned far out of the reach of any help, Sasuke is forced to question what he holds dearest to him.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Poison Brings Out the Best in Me

**Summary:** When Sakura is poisoned far out of the reach of any help, Sasuke is forced to question what he holds dearest to him.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. If I did, there would be baby Uchihas running around.

**Rating: **T

**Words:** 2,745

**Warning(s): **Language

**Author's Note(s): **Prepare for a multitude of Protective!Sasuke. Eventually M (*waggles eyebrows*) but not yet.

* * *

><p>Glowing green chakra hovered over Sasuke's arm, focusing on a particularly bad tear in his bicep. It was his only wound that had required healing; all others were superficial enough get cleaned and bound. Not that Sakura couldn't have or didn't want to heal them, but they all agreed it was best to reserve chakra for the long journey ahead of them. Besides, Sasuke was tough, and Naruto healed quickly (with his never-ending supply of Kyubbi chakra), so only serious wounds and ones impeding traveling were tended to.<p>

As the skin reattached itself under Sakura's steady hands, Sasuke felt the tension slowly leak out of his shoulders. While the wound wasn't necessarily life-threatening, the amount of muscle that had been torn through by the jagged sword made it extremely painful.

Which is more than he could say for the rogue nin who had attacked them. Really, expecting four shinobi, jonin or not, to eliminate the three heroes of Konohagakure was laughable. The troubling part of the attack wasn't the numbers in which it was received, but the mere existence of one.

Technically, this was a mission. Sakura, Naruto, and he had been nominated—because they hand pretty much ended the war single-handedly, and as such they were being masqueraded around as war heroes—to accept a diplomatic mission to Kirigakure aimed to establish a political alliance between the two nations. This in itself was a big deal due to the fact that Kirigakure had remained firmly uninvolved in political affairs since anyone could remember. Thankfully, it was mostly a formality, as forced sessions of diplomatic negotiations were far from his idea of even a decent time.

Still, the trio had set out to Konoha with a scroll containing highly classified medical information as a show of good will. During the ceremony, three of Kiri's elders droned on for ages—Sakura had poked Naruto and him several times to keep them awake—about the traditions and prestige the two nations possessed, and what a glorious day—it had been raining—it was to see them united. In exchange for their scroll, Team 7 received—with much bowing and sake drinking and hand-shaking—a scroll detailing a technique the Mizukage believed Tsunade would find helpful.

Point being, for once in their ninja career, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto had _not_ stolen a scroll. No one had died. No villages were leveled. No heart swaying speeches were delivered to enemies.

And _still_ they had been attacked.

"Well, there we go!" Sakura clapped her hands together, "I think we're ready to move out."

"Finally!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping down from the tree branch he had been resting on, "I almost checked our packs again I was so bored."

Rolling his eyes at the exuberant blonde, Sasuke stood up and rolled his shoulder experimentally. Noting nothing wrong, he continued to flex his muscles—all under a pair of critical viridian eyes. She didn't have to speak for him to recognize the question behind her quirked eyebrow.

"All good," he responded, grabbing his pack from Naruto, "Thanks."

As always, the responding smile was immediate and warm. "No problem, Sasuke," she waved him off with one hand and grabbed her pack with the other, "It's my job."

Despite the nonchalant words, Sakura's cheeks were dusted with a light pink that caught Sasuke off guard. It had been a long time since she had shown anything more than comradeship towards him, and polite responses generally didn't get this reaction from her. Perturbed, Sasuke chose to look at a particularly shiny rock instead of his teammate. He had a mission to focus on.

"Hn."

He refused to acknowledge the heat that was rising in his cheeks.

"I'll keep the scroll in my pack," Sakura offered, "Standard formation, no breaks until dusk?"

Since her tone of voice betrayed nothing but professionalism, he decided it was safe enough to look back. Sure enough, while her cheeks were still pink, her eyes were focused. He met her eyes and nodded once before springing into the trees as point. Two clunks of heels against trees and an enthusiastic whoop from Naruto assured him they were close behind.

It had taken a year, but they were a team again, and for once, Sasuke wasn't ashamed to admit he was content.

_x_

The contentedness Sasuke had felt earlier had all but vanished. Determined silence had lasted about two hours before Naruto had gotten bored, and had taken to sharing whatever was on his mind. This mostly consisted of him babbling on about Hinata and where the dobe should take her on their next date.

"So why can't I just take Hinata to Ichiraku's again?"

"Because, dobe, not everyone lives, breathes, and eats ramen," Sasuke snapped back despite his determination to remain uninvolved.

"Yeah!" Sakura puffed, "Ramen's not"—huff— "romantic, and you should"—huff— "do something special for her."

This was the second cause of his irritation. Despite resisting breaks, they were making poor time back to the village with an invaluable document under their care—which some unknown ninja had the gall to try and steal only six months after the end of the Great Shinobi War. Part of Sasuke—okay, most of him—chaffed to stop and see exactly who dared challenge them, but direct mission orders and an increased sense of protectiveness about the mysterious technique sealed inside the scroll urged him onwards at full-speed.

_Which we are not anywhere _close _to achieving_, Sasuke frowned, clenching his teeth in annoyance. The lack-luster pace was due to Sakura, who seemed to be getting progressively slower as time went on. At first he thought she was just daydreaming, but now she was honestly struggling to keep up.

"Woah! Watch out Sakura-chan!"

Whipping around, Sasuke watched Sakura grab onto a branch with two hands and use her falling momentum to carry herself upwards and recover her fall. After landing securely on the next branch, Sakura met his eyes. Apparently, his annoyance was unappreciated, because she immediately went on the defensive.

"Don't glare at me like that, Uchiha. I just wasn't paying attention to where I was going," she responded, scowling, "It's not like you're above making a mistake."

Her pointed glance at his newly healed bicep did nothing to calm him. Instead, the annoyance that had been building all afternoon burst.

"Maybe I would be more understanding of mistakes if you weren't slacking off," the cold tone in his voice betrayed the depth of his annoyance.

He heard Naruto suck in a sharp breath. Although she had improved greatly, and proved herself as a powerful kunoichi in her own right, Sakura was always sensitive to comments insinuating she was weak. Derogatory comments coming from him were exceptionally troubling. Sasuke had drawn this conclusion over time from the worried glances she consistently received from any and all comrades who witnessed an exchange.

Green eyes narrowed into slits, "Well, excuse me for not having unlimited chakra, Sir-Child-Progeny. Some of us have to control the chakra we throw around."

Sasuke saw Naruto glancing between them as if it was a tennis match. Obviously uncomfortable with the killing intent emitting from the two of them, he stepped in between them, flapping his hands in a way that was intended to calm them.

"Sasuke, maybe you're just setting too fast of a pace. She can usually keep up with us," Naruto reasoned, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "Why don't you let me take point for a bit?"

"The reason I generally set pace is _because_ you run Sakura into the ground, idiot."

"Oh, well that's sooo Uchiha. Never gonna give up control, huh? Compensating for all the 'uke' jokes?" Sakura smirked. The muscles in his back clenched in time with his jaw muscles, and his nostrils flared in surprise; he had not anticipated this form of attack. Her eyes were mocking as she took in both he and Naruto's shocked expressions.

"I'll take point. Triangle formation." She leapt a couple paces ahead before looking back, "Try to keep up."

Still seething, Sasuke jumped after her without glancing at their third flabbergasted teammate. If she was going to be a brat about it, he was going to be sure she felt him on her heels.

_x_

Sasuke had to give it to her. For all her big talk, Sakura could walk the walk. After their argument, Sakura had set a pace deliberately two notches ahead of his pace, and was holding steady two hours later. For the first hour, he was mostly annoyed with this development.

If she could move this quickly why couldn't she just keep up with his pace?

When Sakura stumbled again a couple minutes into the second hour of their grueling speed, Sasuke was instantly attentive. She recovered quickly, and didn't look back, so Sasuke watched her more carefully, but allowed her to keep setting the pace. After the second and third stumble, worry started to replace his annoyance.

"Are you watching Sakura?" Naruto asked, his voice quiet enough that only Sasuke would hear.

He nodded quickly, eyes not leaving their stubborn teammate. She wasn't just being annoying, something was amiss. Activating his sharingan, Sasuke was able to see the miniscule tremors that were running throughout her body. The long shuddering breaths she was struggling to keep quiet were now visible as well.

Without consciously processing it, Sasuke found himself by Sakura's side

"What's wrong."

Although the words were a question, they came out more as a demand. For a second, Sasuke was sure the kunoichi was about to roll her eyes or press forward once again. Then, the hard set to her eyes faded.

"I don't know, Sasuke," she said, her voice hoarse, "something's wrong with my chakra. It's not responding like it should be."

"Your chakra supply is near full." It was part of the reason he thought she was slacking off, her chakra signal had blazed strong this whole time.

She nodded, "I know, but it's like-"

Sakura's sentence was cut off as her foot slipped on the branch once again. Sasuke's arm shot out and steadied her, ceasing their forward movement as well, and ushered her towards the trunk of the tree. Sakura gratefully wrapped her arms around the trunk, shivers wracking her small frame.

"What's going on? What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, crouching on the branch above them.

"I think-I think I've been poisoned," Sakura rasped, now resting her head against the trunk.

_Poisoned?_

"What?! How?!"

"When that nin scratched me with his shuriken," Sakura explained, pushing away from the tree and hiking up her shorts to examine the cut on her thigh, "But I've never encountered a poison like this."

"What do you need?" Despite the fact that his heart rate had sped up furiously, Sasuke was determined to keep his head clear. If she was poisoned, he had to face the fact that Sakura might not be conscious much longer, and his understanding of poisons was limited.

"Um...a safe place, blood replenishing pills, hot water, sterile knife, fire," she counted on her fingers. Sasuke was dismayed to note that her eyes were starting to glaze over, "towels, activated charcoal…"

Without warning, Sakura's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed in a dead faint.

"Fuck!" Sasuke swore, swooping Sakura's limp form into his arms. Her head lolled to one side, making her appear disturbingly dead. A stone settled deep in his gut, and all common sense flew out the window as he processed Sakura's still chest. There wasn't a reason that he shook her, he knew that she was unconscious, but for some reason he tried, "Sakura! Dammit, stay with us! _Sakura!_"

_Is she going to die? _Sasuke's mind reeled in uncharacteristic panic, Sakura's weight feeling much heavier than natural in his arms. He knew next to nothing about poison, and Naruto was sure to know even less. Moments before he had been full of false bravado, sure he they could manage the situation with a little direction from Sakura.

Now that Sakura was unresponsive, the gravity of the situation began to sink in. How long did she have? Hours? Minutes? Seconds? How were he and Naruto supposed to save her? How could they protect her from an enemy they couldn't see? Could they even—could they honestly expect to save her?

Sense returned to him about the same time Naruto moved to hover over their teammate's sweating form. The light red of her usual kunoichi attire had turned dark in the short span of time since she had stopped running, and even in her unconscious state, Sakura's forehead was wrinkled in pain.

"She doesn't smell right, Sasuke"—the dusty orange highlights around his eyes announced he had entered Sage mode—"There's this stench that starts in her thigh, and it stops at the bottom of her stomach." Naruto looked grim, and inhaled deeply once more before wrinkling his nose in distaste, "And it's spreading."

Sasuke forced his hysteria to the back of his mind; this was no time for him to break down, he had to act like the team leader he was. But what the hell was he supposed to do in this situation? Sakura was the medic, not him!

"Is there any shelter nearby?" Sasuke demanded, finally sorting through his thoughts. The first thing Sakura had listed was a "safe place", so he assumed she knew they would never make it to Konoha in time. This wasn't particularly obscure, since they were about a week's travel from Konoha, but still. It was a place to start.

Without hesitation Naruto leaned away from his teammate, sniffing the air and spinning as if following some aroma. A breeze stirred the forest leaves, and Naruto rose on his tiptoes, catching the scent and turning towards it.

"This way," Naruto declared, turning back to look at Sasuke over his shoulder, "There seems to be an old wood hut, no one's been in it in years, though."

"Lead," Sasuke demanded, positioning Sakura in his arms so that his running wouldn't jar her. He had no idea what would aggravate her or this poison, and probably being jostled was the least or her concerns, but it didn't hurt to be safe.

Old friends set off nearly side-by-side, Sasuke only just allowing Naruto to escort him. Trees flew by them at an accelerated pace, much faster than earlier. It was obvious that both Naruto and Sasuke were pushing themselves to move. Had he known where he was going, he would have used his teleportation to increase things a bit, but that was impossible with Naruto in the lead.

Sakura stirred in her sleep, and Sasuke's attention was immediately drawn back to her. She seemed to be breathing more regularly, but her body was anything but relaxed. In fact, her muscles were wired so intensely he could feel the tautness of her bicep from where it was pressed into his pectoral. Concern drew his eyebrows downward. _Was she getting worse?_

"Only fifteen more minutes," Naruto interrupted him, his blue eyes intently watching him when Sasuke looked up. At times like these, when it came down to the wire, Sasuke felt slapped in the face with how much Naruto really had matured. He had always been his best friend, his partner, his rival, and so it wasn't his reaction to emergencies that surprised him—they had always been on the same page about that. It was his emotional understanding.

Had they been twelve, Naruto would have been talking-yelling more like—nonstop. If he was feeling gracious, Sasuke could admit that a thirteen year old Naruto would have been slightly more under wraps, but not by much. Sixteen year old Naruto would have delivered heart-felt speeches, and while those were probably still lying under the surface, now he had enough sense to save those for special occasions.

Time had granted Naruto a sense of emotional maturity. No, he was not the best bet for an intellectual conversation, unless it was one on ethics, but he was dependable. Perceptive.

_A little too perceptive,_ a small voice whispered in the back of Sasuke's head.

"Keep your eyes on the path, dobe," he snapped, suddenly not wanting Naruto's knowing eyes on him a second longer.

The sigh that answered him was exasperated, but Sasuke tried not to give it another thought. Just like he wasn't paying attention to all of the thoughts inspired by the unconscious teammate in his arms.

* * *

><p><strong>And there we have it! The beginning to my first multi-chapter Naruto fic! I really like this one actually, and I already have chapters 2 and 3 written. There are ways to get at them, but I'm holding them for ransom on this site. Two reviews please?<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Poison Brings Out the Best in Me

**Summary:** When Sakura is poisoned far out of the reach of any help, Sasuke is forced to question what he holds dearest to him.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. If I did, there would be baby Uchihas running around.

**Rating: **T

**Words:** 2,212

**Warning(s): **Language

**Author's Note(s): **Second multichap! I promise I'll get either this or Chidorilator before beginning a new idea (minus finishing the SSM2014 prompts). Prepare for a multitude of Protective!Sasuke. Eventually M (*waggles eyebrows*) but not yet.

* * *

><p>When they arrived, Sasuke immediately decided "shelter" was a generous term. The shack had obviously been abandoned at least a decade, and the planks forming the walls were aged at best: gnarled, warped, and cracked. If it was looked at just right, eyes squinted and head tilted sideways, the shack stood straight, but head on there was an undeniable slant to the structure.<p>

Thoughtlessly, Sasuke shifted Sakura in his grasp so that she was closer to him and glanced at Naruto. The arch to his eyebrow conveyed his message perfectly to the blonde who laughed nervously in response: _Is this really going be enough to shelter Sakura?_

Yes, they were ninja, and yes, they had made use of bad situations before. But surely he and Naruto could scrounge up something better than this, Sasuke wrinkled his lip in distaste, this-shack!

_Sakura deserves better than this_, chimed that same little voice that he had gotten so good at ignoring. Sasuke mentally shook his head to rid himself of the sentimental thought the moment it surfaced. It wasn't so much that _Sakura_ deserved better, it was that any poisoned ninja deserved better. After all, they would probably have to attempt some mockery of medical procedures, and this hardly seemed sanitary.

"Hm, yeah, I knew it was abandoned, but this"—Naruto shrugged, but froze and Sasuke's stony glare—"Um, I mean, just give me a second, I can totally fix this."

A couple of hand-signs later, Naruto had filled the clearing with clones. The sea of orange proceeded to scurry around and in the house, generally cleaning up. One removed underbrush from around the walls, one picked the weeds that had begun to sprout through the wood floor. A pair of clones worked together—one clone perched atop the shoulders of another—to remove various animal homes from the overhang.

From the corner of his eye, Sasuke spotted a cluster of three clones struggling with a rotted hunk of wood lodged in the door. When they finally succeeding in wrenching it free, the hunk soared out of their hands and connected squarely with the forehead of the fake-Naruto giving extra support to the shaky structure—causing him to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

Still slightly bemused, Sasuke continued to watch the process unfold. Looking at Naruto's apartment, one would think he didn't know _how_ to clean. His actions now demonstrated that it wasn't the knowledge that was lacking at home, just the desire. Despite himself, Sasuke smirked.

_Sakura would have been proud_. The thought shocked Sasuke back into reality, and although he had been amused by Naruto's antics, now he really wished he would hurry it the fuck up.

Wood pile after wood pile exited the house, and then it was being cut in half, leaving half oval log pieces scattering the forest floor. Finally, actually, only a couple minutes later, one final Naruto clone exited the shack and saluted the real Naruto with a dirt smirched hand.

"Awesome," Naruto declared, forming a couple more hand signs and crouching to slap one palm to the ground, "Stand back, Sasuke, we're almost set."

In a move he had only seen one person use, four large toads erupted from the ground as soon as Naruto's palm connected with the earth. Not a second had past after their materialization before all four toads were spitting copious amounts of mud onto the shack's walls. _What the fuck was he doing?_ Before he could voice this thought, however, the mud toads disappeared into the ground they were summoned from, and Naruto called out to his clones.

"Okay, guys, finish it up!"

With an odd amount of synchronicity, the clones launched themselves at the mud-coated shack, all wielding cleaved logs. Each log was placed-flat-side on down-onto the shack's wall using the mud as a glue or paste to keep it in place. _So that was his plan. _

They put their superior speed and numbers to work-tossing logs back and forth, springing off one another to reach the higher spots- and soon had the walls covered in fresh wood. The final panel placement was greeted with raucous cheers from the clones, who all commenced in chest bumps and high fives. Even Naruto was smiling as he dispersed them.

Armed with completely new walls, the shack looked nothing like it had earlier. The distinct slant was gone, and the structure stood proud and tall. It didn't seem as if weather would be a worry now, either, as the new paneling on the walls was sure to provide plenty of extra insulation. Sasuke hadn't seen the inside yet, but if the amount of trash and weeds the clones had removed was any clue, it had probably undergone an intense remodel as well.

He observed Naruto from the corner of his eye, impressed, despite himself. The dobe had his legs braced wide, hands low on in hips, and a large smile on his face as he took in the finished product. Obviously, he was pleased with himself as well.

"One more thing, Sasuke," he announced, shooting Sasuke a grin before down to pat the ground again.

Another earth toad sprung from the ground facing the shack. When it opened its mouth, Sasuke half-expected more streams of mud, but instead a long jet of water escaped and pounded into the singular mud-smeared window the shack possesed. Really, it was a miracle the thing hadn't broken in all those years of disuse. The toad disappeared once all traces of mud had been removed, and Naruto moved closer towards the shack. He observed the house contemplatively, with his chin resting in his hand. In one smooth movement he used the material of his jacket to wipe the window clean and then stood back to observe his work.

He nodded decisively, "Okay, teme, it's ready!"

_Ready for Sakura._

Sasuke didn't bother to reply before striding forward past Naruto into the shack, teammate in arms. Carrying Sakura bridal style didn't allow much opportunity to do other things, however, like grab his sleeping mat from his pack. He delicately shifted her so that she was in a "standing" position against his side, but so that the arm around her waist took all of her weight. His free arm quickly slipped behind his back into his pack, and he wiggled his fingers around blindly until he felt the soft, padded material of his bedroll. Once he had wrenched it free from its confines, Sasuke soon learned that unrolling a sleeping pad one-handed was easier said than done. It only took three tries, but as far as Sasuke was concerned that was two tries to long.

Sakura stirred against him, and for one heart-wrenching second he thought she was about to regain consciousness. Her eyelashes fluttered weakly against the exposed skin of his collar bone, and Sasuke searched desperately for a flash of the bright green eyes he was so accustomed to. Pink eyebrows furrowed and she lifted her head, but the effort seemed to be too much for the poisoned kunoichi, and she collapsed against his body once more.

Sasuke let out a long breath he didn't know he had been holding.

Stomping down his disappointment, Sasuke gently scooped Sakura back into his arms before gently laying her out on the pad. Her form barely took up two thirds of the roll-it was his, after all-and the contrast made her seem frail. Calling her skin pale would be a compliment, because the truth was her skin was basically transparent except for the blush on her cheeks and across her nose.

The realization slapped Sasuke across the face. Sakura hadn't been blushing at him this morning, she had been suffering from the first signs of a fever. Of course he wasn't the reason for her blush!-she hadn't loved him in years. What was wrong with him? He should be relieved that she had gotten over her childish crush, not looking for signs it still existed.

If he had been thinking with his brain instead of his heart this morning, there was a chance this whole thing could have been avoided. He shook his head in disgust at himself; he knew better than anyone the consequences of letting emotions take control.

Sakura quivered on the mat and curled up onto her side, as if trying to get warm. Hesitation seized him, and Sasuke was torn between trying to give her the comfort of warmth and letting her body fight the fever. She looked so miserable, sweating and trembling as her body fought-he refused to think succumbed to-the poison. His hand inched toward the blanket in his pack before common sense caught up with him.

Giving her a blanket would only aid the fever raging through her system, and Sasuke was disgusted that his hand still hovered over his pack. He wrenched his hand away without a second thought-his heart had caused enough trouble today. If Sakura was going to fight the fever she needed to cool down. He forced himself to take another deep breath, he needed to get his head on straight.

Behind him Sasuke could hear the faint clanging of the metal kettle they carried with them. Generally, he would yell at Naruto for starting a fire indoors, but he couldn't find within himself to care. He didn't particularly want to leave Sakura, even by only a few feet. Besides, they could deal with it by leaving the door open.

"Light this, Sasuke," Naruto soon called. Turning around, Sasuke found he was gesturing to the tea kettle, suspended by their usual traveling gear over smaller chunks of wood even than the ones outside. This was normal, but it was the location the caused Sasuke to do a double take.

Somehow, he hadn't noticed it from the outside or when he walked in, one of the clones had expanded the hut to contain a small fireplace and chimney. It looked like he had broken a couple of deteriorating planks of the wall to break outside of the original confines of the shack and then fenced it in with more cleaved wood and mud.

Forcing down the wave of respect and gratitude, now they really could attend Sakura full-time, Sasuke formed the signs that released a smaller form of his fire release technique. Untouched by mud, the dry wood crackled to life.

With Sakura safely laid out on his sleeping mat, and the water boiling, a notch of tension left his shoulders. He took in his surroundings, fully, and was mildly taken aback by what he saw. Not a cobweb marred the walls or ceilings. Running a finger down a nearby wall, Sasuke realized that applied to the dirt as well. The moisture on his skin and slight sheen to the wall meant Naruto had probably used some sort of water jutsu to cleanse the shack. At midday, enough light filtered through the window to clearly see everything, and one of their lanterns hung in the middle, ready for night.

An unexpected emotion filled his chest, for the second time that day, and Sasuke felt himself meeting Naruto's eyes evenly. He felt like he had to say something, but this sudden burst of gratitude didn't exactly come with a manual and Sasuke was left fumbling for the proper words. What was he supposed to say- 'you clean really well'?

And why did he even feel the sudden urge to say thank-you? It's not like protecting Sakura was a favor to him. They were teammates, taking care of each other was what they did. Naruto would look after Sakura with or without his guidance.

"Nice work, dobe," Sasuke eventually managed, the unfamiliar words falling thickly from his mouth.

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto responded easily, stretching out on the thick stump he had claimed as a seat, "I'm awesome, I know."

Any anxiety Sasuke had felt about expressing himself vanished with Naruto's flippancy, and the corner of his mouth twitched upward as he prepared to respond. It was only the slightest noise from Sakura that gained both the boy's attention, and at that moment all witty remarks were forgotten.

Cerulean and obsidian eyes narrowed in on the girl tossing against the wall. Sakura had uncurled from her feverish fetal position and instead stretched her limbs out as far as they would go in opposite directions. Her head tossed back and forth wildly before her whole body arched and she finally settled against the matt-still, with her eyebrows scrunched, and bottom lip placed firmly in her mouth.

The teasing Naruto and Sasuke had been exchanging seconds ago dried up, leaving a somber atmosphere. Good natured bickering seemed so out of place when their teammate was dying.

It was Naruto who broke the silence.

"She doesn't look good, Sasuke."

Mutely, Sasuke stood, reaching for his pack as he headed outside.

"Where are you going?"

Sasuke turned back, still lingering in the doorway, and met his cerulean gaze stoically, not even a hint of a smile decorating his fist. If Naruto were to look closely, he would have noticed the white-knuckled grip he held on the door, or possibly even the determined set to his jaw.

"Watch over Sakura," Sasuke eventually declared, "I'm going to sanitize my weapons."

* * *

><p><strong>...well that was quick. I seriously wasn't expecting those reviews that quickly. Sorry for the delay, but I'm in Ireland at the moment so time-zones. Also lots of things were happening in my lab. ENJOY. I'll post the third chapter once it's done being beta'd.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **Poison Brings Out the Best in Me

**Summary:** When Sakura is poisoned far out of the reach of any help, Sasuke is forced to question what he holds dearest to him.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. If I did, there would be baby Uchihas running around.

**Rating: **T

**Words:** 4,599

**Warning(s): **Language

**Author's Note(s): **Second multichap! I promise I'll get either this or Chidorilator before beginning a new idea (minus finishing the SSM2014 prompts). Prepare for a multitude of Protective!Sasuke. Eventually M (*waggles eyebrows*) but not yet.

* * *

><p>Not a half hour passed before Sasuke returned, carrying a bundle of death-dealing devices carefully in his arms. More furniture adorned the small space than when he left, and Naruto shrugged in response to his silent question.<p>

"I got bored."

"Hn."

Calmly, Sasuke plucked a senbon from the assortment of weapons and thrust it firmly into the newly reinforced wooden wall so that it jutted out like a particularly dangerous wall hook. He ignored Naruto's squawks of protest ("HEY! I just fixed this place, teme!") and began to hang his freshly sterilized kunais over the lengthened needle. When the needle wall hook was full, Sasuke slammed another senbon firmly into place ("Seriously?! You asshole! What the fuck?") and repeated the process. Eventually, the last weapon that he held was his kusanagi, and although it was freshly sterilized as well, Sasuke winced at the idea of using it for what had to be done.

He couldn't turn that weapon on Sakura.

Still frowning, he carefully sheathed the blade.

Logically, he knew what the next step had to be. The item "sterile knife" had definitely been in Sakura's list before she fainted, and there were only so many things that could be used for. She had been planning on having them cut her open and try to drain the poison. Sasuke had heard the accounts of Naruto and Kakashi of what Sakura had done to Kankuro, but he couldn't redirect poison with his chakra. This was going to be rudimentary and best.

His eyes flicked to where Sakura lay.

The kunoichi looked even more miserable than before, if that was possible. Even if her body was mostly still, her face destroyed any notions of her sleeping peacefully. Every couple of seconds her face would contort into a new grimace more horrific than the last. Not even within the safety of her dreams was she safe, it seemed.

Unease consumed his features and thoughts. Having a defendable, clean, and safe structure around Sakura had eased his mind somewhat. The reality was, however, Sakura was fighting for her life with or without the shack's walls around her-and she was counting on them to help her.

Once again, the freshly sterilized weapons caught his attention, and his eyebrows pulled into a fierce scowl. Could they really be trusted to do this?

"Sakura's tough, Sasuke," Naruto voiced, once again displaying his annoying ability to read Sasuke's mind, "The only one more thick-headed than her is you. She'll pull through."

If stubbornness was all it took to beat a poison, Sasuke would find himself in agreeance with Naruto. At the start of the war, he knew Sakura had changed when she jumped up onto the ledge with him and Naruto. She'd refused to be left behind, and that determinedness continued even as their enemies grew astronomically in terms of power. Since his return to Konoha, he'd found himself subject to more than his fair share of Sakura's steadfast nature. Now that she wasn't doting on him, there had been occasions (his arm smarted at the memory) when he could be the subject of her combined fury and obstinance-and he had never expected that to change.

Hell, when he really forced himself to think about it, he couldn't _picture_ a life without them now. Even when he had been intent on shutting them from his life, he'd always imagined them living somewhere in the back of his mind. Maybe not with him, and not as his friends, but they'd always been _alive_.

But this, this was real and terrifying. It had none of the adrenaline associated with battle, and all of the results: death. It wasn't quick, leaving nearly no room to intervene. Instead, all there _was_ was time. Time to second guess. Time to worry. Time for dread.

"Sasuke, if being impaled twice-once by _Madara_-didn't kill her, this won't," Naruto repeated, placing his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and trying once more to draw him out of his dark thoughts. Whether or not Naruto was right, it was true that worrying did nothing. He nodded once, clenching his hands, but not moving away.

When silence reigned once more, Naruto took it upon himself to break it. Again.

"So, I'm assuming all the shiny new weapons have a purpose," he drawled, hands crossed over his chest, "And I'm hoping there was a reason for you to make holes in the wall to hang them up rather than place them on _the beautiful new table I just made_."

Sasuke's lips twitched in a smirk at Naruto's outrage, and he saw from the corner of his eyes that there was indeed a new piece of furniture adorning the shack. Beautiful was a bit of a stretch-it was assembled of old, gnarled wood, after all-but it was functional.

"Yeah, they have a purpose."

Naruto's frustration threatened to reach physical form, and Sasuke fought to keep his expression nonchalant. Displaying maturity and patience he didn't know Naruto possessed, the blonde managed to ground out, "So, what are they for then? Can I help?"

"Draining the poison from her. And yeah."

Naruto blanched, and quickly dropped his hand from Sasuke's shoulder, "We're what?!"

Sasuke silently selected a sharpened and sterilized kunai from the sharp wall hook. He held it up in the light as if he was examining it, but the truth was he was just stalling; he was as apalled with what they were about to do as Naruto was. Realizing all he was doing was putting Sakura's life in more danger by allowing time to pass without action, he gritted his teeth and spun around-kunai in hand.

"She's dying, Naruto," he snarled, "This poison is killing her from the inside out, and we have to try and help her fight it."

His anger froze whatever retort was about to come from Naruto's mouth. Cerulean eyes widened as Sasuke's rant continued.

"And the only thing we can do is what Sakura told us before she passed out. Can you even remember the list? The first one was 'safe place.' We have that now. Sterile knife and blood replenishing pills were next on the list, what does that tell you? She wanted us, experienced or not, to try and get this shit out of her. So, if you think, for one minute-"

"Sasuke," Naruto stopped him with raised hands, "I get it, what do you want me to do?"

Abruptly Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath; it wasn't often his emotions got the best of him like that. Opening his eyes once more, he fixed Naruto with a steady gaze, "Just hold her. I don't want her to-to fight it."

While neither man was please with the situation, they both got into position. Him crouched above her thigh with a kunai poised above her skin, and Naruto kneeling behind her head, ready to hold her in place by force if necessary.

"Got her?" he questioned gruffly. This was the logical thing to do. He shouldn't feel guilty.

Naruto's response was equally low and serious, "Yeah, let's do this."

Swallowing thickly, Sasuke flicked the kunai over muscular surface of her thigh. Sakura twitched and threw her head restlessly to the other side but didn't protest any further. Crimson red immediately spilled from the wound, staining her pale flesh. Within the steadily flowing trickle were small, milky white flecks that he would have missed without his sharingan.

"Sasuke, it smells like most of the poison has progressed to her upper thighs and throughout her abdomen," Naruto spoke from his position behind Sakura's head. His head was lowered as if he couldn't bear to watch what was happening, "I think…you're going to have squeeze the poison out."

_Fuck._ Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"Let me know when the smell lessens."

"Yeah."

His hands hovered over Sakura's abdomen, covered except for the small gap between her shirt and shorts. Although he wasn't new to touching her-it was hard to spar someone without physical contact-this felt like crossing some sort of boundary, especially with her lying there unconscious.

He forced himself to focus on the task at hand; Sakura didn't have time for his conflicted thoughts.

His hands automatically layered themselves over one another as if he was performing CPR, and he lowered his weight onto Sakura's stomach. Her reaction was instantaneous.

Sakura's body jerked away from him with a strangled gasp, and it was only Naruto's hold on her shoulders that kept her in place. With his pressure, the milky-dots seeping from the wound he'd inflicted turned into streams, and Sasuke added even more force to his compression. This time Sakura tried to kick out, and he had to place his knee on her quad to keep her still. Her hands formed into fists, clenching fiercely even though there wasn't a drop of chakra left in her system. Naruto's palms slid down to grip her biceps so she couldn't punch him away. Without her chakra-infused strength, the gesture was mostly unnecessary, but he appreciated the effort.

When the poison began to thin again, Sasuke separated his hands and dragged his palms forcefully over the tops of her thighs. The anguished cry that broke through her lips caused his heart to skip painfully.

Then, all of the sudden it stopped.

Sasuke chanced a glance up to find viridian eyes staring right back at him.

They weren't as clear as they usually were, and there was more than a small amount of confusion in them, but they were open-and she wasn't screaming or struggling anymore. Even if she was in pain and had no idea what was going on, Sakura trusted them enough to not panic. That's what Team 7 was all about.

After blinking slowly several times, the fog cleared from her gaze, and he could see Sakura returning into medic mode. She lifted her head to get better stock of the situation, and smiled tightly at the blonde hair blocking her view.

"It's okay, Naruto, I won't fight anymore." Her lower lip was tucked tightly into her mouth, so it was obvious the discomfort was still there, but consciousness had slammed a lid down on her cries.

Naruto scrambled to get off of her and helped her into a more upright position. She trembled slightly as she rested her weight on the hands behind her, and it worried Sasuke to see how weak she really was. Without prompting Naruto placed his legs on either side of her body and guided her backwards so she could lean against his chest. It was a testament to how strong their relationship had grown when Sakura didn't balk at the idea of sharing such a vulnerable type contact with Naruto.

The fact that he only felt the _slighest _prick of annoyance probably meant he had matured as well.

"Sasuke, could you reach behind you for my pack?" she asked, head resting heavily on Naruto's shoulder, "I have a vial in there I need you to grab a sample of the poison with."

He complied quickly and pulled the pack to his side. It only took a second to locate the vials within, Sakura was notorious for keeping her pack meticulously organized.. The lid was unscrewed efficiently with one hand and held under the wound on Sakura's thigh. With a little extra pressure from Sasuke, and a well-muffled gasp from Sakura, the vial soon contained a one to one ration of blood to poison.

"Good," Sakura breathed, "Now, we're going to have to close up this wound. I shouldn't lose much more blood in this state."

_In this state_. Sasuke cataloged the information numbly as he nodded to Sakura. It was odd how much calmer he felt when Sakura was conscious. His mind was clear as he snatched blood replenishing pills, alcohol, and a needle and thread.

Sakura took the proffered pills without hesitation and didn't even flinch as the metallic medicine hit her tongue. Naruto wrinkled his nose from behind her, legs still braced protectively on either side, and groaned, "Shit, Sakura-chan, those things are nasty! How do you swallow them like that?"

"Language, Naruto," she chided softly, the upward turn to her mouth betraying her amusement, "There's just no use complaining about something you can't change, right?"

Despite her brave words, she grimaced when she saw the needle in Sasuke's hands.

"Aw, man, really?" she allowed herself to whine, "I don't suppose either of you went and learned some basic medical ninjutsu."

Naruto chuckled nervously and he stared at her blankly. The dobe had horrible chakra control and his patience was...slightly less than required to mold healing chakra. Of course they hadn't mastered any medical ninjutsu.

"I'll be quick," he promised. Learning under Orochimaru came with its own assortment of odd skills-self-doctoring being one of them. He wasn't sure if Orochimaru just liked seeing him in pain or if he actually thought field medicine was a useful skill, but Sasuke had gotten exceptionally good at setting his own bones and stitching his wounds.

Sakura met his eyes and nodded once, seriously, before carrying on loudly as he set to work, "Jeez, that's it. I don't c-care how long it takes. When we get back, I'm putting you all through basic training."

Her voice only hitched when the needle first broke her skin.

"Sakura-chan, I'm horrible at chakra control!"

"The dobe would probably blow someone's leg off instead of healing it."

"Hey! Like you would be any better, Teme."

"Well, we'll just have to find out-t. The loser is going to help me with my paperwork for a month!"

Sasuke knotted the thread and broke it off before running more alcohol over the wound. Better safe than sorry. Sakura tensed but didn't comment, choosing instead to maintain her banter with Naruto. She was pale and unsteady, but her attitude was as bright as ever. Only the tightness around the corners of her eyes uncovered just how hard she was fighting to keep her mask in place. Sasuke couldn't help thinking that he'd do her paperwork for a year if it meant she would get home okay.

"Oh, is that tea you have going?" he heard her say, having missed whatever preceded it.

"Well, I think we were going to use it medically or whatever, but we can definitely have tea now that you're conscious," Naruto responded, helping her into one of the chairs he'd made. Sakura sank down gratefully.

"Sounds great! Why don't we all grab some tea and gather round?" she gestured to either side of her, "I have to check something while I'm...while I'm thinking about it."

Sasuke tensed, and he didn't miss the way Naruto's spine straightened as well. Over the clinking of cups the two shared a grim look. The blood-letting had bought them some time, but Sakura's life was still in danger.

"Here you go, Sakura-chan. Jasmine tea," Naruto handed her her tin cup and she gripped it tightly, almost holding it closer for warmth despite her body's sky-rocketing temperature.

"Thanks Naruto," she grinned at him from behind her cup. She set it down slowly on her lap and waved towards him and Naruto with her free hands, "come sit close. You too, Sasuke."

They never saw it coming; it never crossed their minds that she had an ulterior motive. As soon as they were within reach, Sakura's palms darted out and made contact with their chests simultaneously. A medium burst of chakra jolted their cores, and Sasuke could feel the waves of benign chakra ebbing through his system. With a small frown, Sakura dropped her hands to return to her mug. She seemed to have no intention of telling them what had just happened as she thoughtfully sipped her tea.

"What the fuck was that?" he snapped, stepping just out of her range once again. He could tell that there was no malicious intent behind the chakra, but if she had any access left to her chakra she should be using it on herself, dammit!

Startled out of her thoughts, Sakura looked up into Sasuke's accusing eyes.

"Sakura-chan, you really shouldn't have wasted any chakra on us," Naruto hedged, mirroring Sasuke's thoughts. The way he voiced said thoughts were much more diplomatic than the way Sasuke had planned to say it, however. "We can take care of ourselves, believe it!"

The smile the met his response was fleeting and troubled-more of a nostalgic reaction than actual emotion. What, did she doubt he and Naruto's ability to watch out for themselves?

"Not against poison, you can't, especially this one," she paused, and cocked her head to the side, "Well, there is the possibility that your connection with Kurama would protect you against some poisons-or at least allow you to heal more quickly. Then there's the theory that Kurama's chakra could literally expel the foreign substance from your system. And Sasuke's time with Orochimaru probably contained a fair amount of acquiring resistance to poisons, right?" She didn't bother to let him respond before continuing on her tangent, "But if this was a poison that you could build resistance to, there's no way I wouldn't be resistant as well. I'd guess I'm actually resistant to more since they're Tsunade's speciality. Mine too. Your kekei genkei _could_ be attributed to a higher res-"

"Sakura."

Sasuke's cool tone cut off her ramblings. She needed to focus. If this rant had been intended specifically for Naruto, she had lost him. His eyes had glazed over about a quarter of the way into her explanation. The faraway look disappeared from her viridian orbs and she nodded once at Sasuke before smiling apologetically at Naruto.

"Sorry, Naruto, what I meant was, I have to check up on you guys! I'm your medic." Her constant smile was far too bright for the situation. "Plus, it's my duty to decide how grave a situation we're in."

"How bad?"

Sakura paused, and Sasuke felt his shoulders stiffen.

"Well, neither you nor Naruto was poisoned," she eventually declared, noticeably avoiding any description of her well-being, "So, for whatever reason, I was the only one who was poisoned."

"Can you make it back to Konoha?"

She shook her head then winced and held her neck before continuing to do so slowly, "This poison is like nothing I've seen before. It's making me far too weak, and I'm not sure what will and won't aggravate it. Since it's traveling in my bloodstream, there's a good chance movement will stimulate it, so it's better not to chance it."

"If we send for help," Sasuke began then stopped, not wanting to continue the thought process. He didn't want to consider the possibility that Sakura wouldn't last long enough for help to arrive.

"No, I won't," she firmly answered the unspoken second half of his her voice was strong in the face of the frail thread on which her life now hung, her eyes were overflowing with emotion like always. Regret, anger, sadness, and...remorse? What did she have to feel badly about?

"Then what's the plan?"

The situation Sakura was describing was beginning to sound more desolate every second. Not only did Sakura not have any resistance to the poison, she had no clue how to fight it, and was in no position to travel to any help. To top it off, she had confirmed their worst fears: she was dying. Without aid, she wouldn't last more than a week.

"Well!" she declared, clapping her hands together weakly. The action seemed to be too much and she broke off to smother a fit of coughs. Once she had it under control, she continued, "Since I'm conscious, I can do some work on figuring out this poison. We're lucky I always travel with scrolls made particularly for this."

"Okay, now I'm really lost," Naruto interjected, rubbing the side of his head, "Scrolls for what?"

Since he wasn't completely sure, Sasuke refrained from answering. If she had a scroll with antidotes, why didn't she just start using the damn things already? Habit caused him to cross his arms in front of his chest and don a foreboding expression-he hated not being in the loop.

Sakura ignored the question and seemed to be examining her ankle. Just when he began to think she'd lost it, she performed a series of hand signs she'd never seen before, bit her thumb, and grabbed one of the charms on her ankle bracelet. A large scroll exploded into life with a cloud of smoke, and Sakura seized it in her grasp before rolling the enormous thing out on the floor. The scroll extended from Sakura's side to the wall of the shack and more still remained unrolled. Lining the paper was seal after circular seal, and Sasuke's mind whirred to make sense of the information.

"Does each seal correlate to an antidote?"

"Yes and no," she murmured, clearly only paying half-attention. She took her still bleeding thumb and applied pressure just beneath the cut, forcing blood to well at the seam. Once a sufficient amount of blood had gathered, she held her shaking hand over the center of the seal until a drop of blood fell into it.

On contact the blood drop sizzled before turning black.

"Hm," Sakura hummed thoughtfully, repeating the process for all the seals within her reach. As soon as she ran out of seals, she hesitated, and glanced at her chair and the next seal. Her eyes steeled themselves, and she placed one hand on her knee as if to push herself up, but Naruto moved before she had a chance to get out of her seat

"Here Sakura-chan, why don't you just fill this vial with blood and I'll drop it into each of the seals?"

A frown threatened to mask Sakura's features, obviously she didn't like being an invalid. but she wiped it off with a gentle smile and extended her bleeding thumb, "Sure, Naruto. Thanks!"

The dobe smiled and caught every drop of blood she forced from her hand ("No problem, Sakura-chan!"), and then darted off to fulfill his new mission. He missed the frown and sigh that marred her features once he was turned away.

With Naruto off filling every circle with blood, Sasuke and Sakura were left in the uncomfortable silence. The shack didn't have much room to begin with, and so by the third pass of awkward eye contact, Sakura had had enough.

"Any chance you'll help me with this second scroll, Sasuke?" she asked nervously, kicking her foot out to display a second scroll charm.

He raised his eyebrow, "Only if you plan to tell me what you're doing."

Bubbling, disbelieving giggles followed his declaration, and his raised eyebrow collapsed immediately in suspicion even as his heart drastically increased its pace. What, exactly, was so funny?

Increasing the severity of his glare yielded no further answers. Instead, upon the sight of his murderous gaze, her laughter doubled so much that a sputtering cough soon replaced it. The laughter subsided soon after that, but the glowing grin had yet to fade.

Chipped harlequin nail-polish, a couple shades brighter than her eyes, flit across Sakura's face as she wiped away her tears of laughter. Finally breathing steadily again, she sunk backward in her chair and exhaled loudly.

"Sorry, Sasuke, I know you hate being laughed at," her face was too kind and apologetic, "But if you could have seen your face! It's like we were genin again."

Only Sakura would equate his genin self with being a good thing. While he had recognized that some of the decisions he had made upon leaving the village were-misguided, he still equated his life as a genin of one of weakness and lies. It had been a long and tumultuous road, but it had brought him strength and the truth. Sasuke couldn't bring himself to regret that.

Even if the nostalgic smile Sakura wore at the memory of it did make him a little guilty.

"Whatever," he snorted, looking away from his female teammate, "What do you need?"

Viridian eyes twinkled with mirth, but she refrained from laughing. The hand-signs were repeated once more, and Sakura used her still-bloody finger to grasp the second scroll. This one had a blue lining, and he marvled at her ingenuity. For years shinobi had struggled with the ability to carry more items, and usually resulted to lugging around large scrolls-he himself had tattoos hidden under the bindings on his forearms. Somehow, Sakura had managed to lessen the weight of the objects she carried and increase the bulk-all stored in a tiny charm.

"Why don't more shinobi use those charms?"

"Could you just put a drop of blood in each circle?"

Both spoke at the same time, and blinked confusedly at the occurence. With Sasuke, speaking simultaneously generally wasn't a problem. Sakura recovered first.

"Oh," she emitted, dropping the bleeding thumb she had extened towards him. She pressed her pointer finger to the wound to staunch the flow and turned her ankle to display several more charms. Sasuke's eyes could pick out what looked like a battle ax, an orange bag, two other scrolls, and a silver box. "These charms?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Well, I guess they just don't work for most shinobi." Sakura began, rubbing her knee thoughtfully, "You know Tenten works almost exclusively with scrolls, right? These would be great for her, but she usually needs immediate access to the items in her scrolls when she withdraws them. With my technique, you first have to restore the item to it's original size before you can go and unseal whatever it was you needed. It's not very useful for battle."

"But good for medic-nins."

"Mmhm, most of these items are to be used off the battle-field," she agreed, "Plus, it takes a lot of concentration and chakra control to shrink the items without distorting or ruining the original content and seals."

So, once again, Sakura had utilized her mastery of chakra control to distinguish herself in a way no one thought possible. Interesting.

"Hn. Give me your thumb," he demanded, abruptly dropping the conversation he had started by extending an empty vial. Sakura looked startled at the sudden change in subject, but recovered quickly, and silently extended her thumb and putting pressure just below the wound.

Without a word he turned from the pink-haired medic and used the now-full vial to activate each seal.

The combination of Naruto and Sasuke zipping through seals made short work of the task. Sakura smiled softly, the smile of a woman disbelieving of her lot in life, but incredibly happy at the same time. She didn't intend for them to see, she always thought they weren't paying attention, but Sasuke does and he always was. He bantered with Naruto ("Dobe, pick up the pace, you're slacking"/ "Bullshit, Teme, I'll race you!") and replayed Sakura's smile and can't help but feel a little lighter as well. This was Team Seven at its finest.

When they finished, Naruto zipped up in front of their seated teammate and saluted her, declaring his victory. Sasuke rolled his eyes and followed slowly-he definitely finished first.

"Now what?"

"Now," Sakura declared impishly, kicking her leg up to rest across her other knee and nearly missing, "Now, we wait."

Both he and Naruto face-faulted.

* * *

><p><strong>Moving the plot along, now! Stay tuned for another chapter of defying death...and "Never Have I Ever"?<strong>

**Also, I apologize, but this is the last chapter I have written out. I estimate a wait of...two weeks? Just fyi**


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